After Hours
by LaMoosh
Summary: With Rex beginning field missions and running away regularly, everyone at Providence has been working overtime. Dr. Holiday has been working into the late hours of the night to avoid interruptions. As it turns out, that's the only time Six wants to talk.


**Notes: Where is this going? Who knows. Let's find out together.**

 **This started out as a very random fluff piece after a little too much wine. Now it's a creative challenge, of sorts. This is my first fic in forever, so I ask that you please be kind.**

 **Takes place just before season 1, episode 2. Doing my best to work with the main story line.**

* * *

 **After Hours**

It had been twelve straight hours and Holiday could no longer ignore the ache in her shoulders or the heaviness she felt in her eyes. She was beginning to reread lines in her research, and if she was being honest with herself, hadn't made any real progress in over an hour. The sun would be rising in a couple of hours, and the main lab in the tower would soon become a revolving door of scientist. Because of this, she had taken to working into the late hours of the night and early morning, so she wouldn't be stopped every five minutes to answer questions or get completely derailed by having to monitor field missions.

It had been a year since she had been promoted to Dr. Fell's position as Chief of Research and Development. It was part non-stop, part going nowhere. Luckily, PhD work had prepared her for this. For Rex? Not so much.

Holiday leaned back in her rolling office chair, sighing heavily as she shut her eyes and nearly drifted off. She gently pushed her chair out from under her desk and tugged at the zipper of her knee-high boots and proceeded to leverage them off, lazily using her other foot and the floor. Kicking her boots aside, she stretched out her toes and took a moment to enjoy the feeling of the cool tile floor under her feet. She then rose to her feet and made her way across the lab to one of the refrigerated lab coolers that was exclusively for her own use. She shuffled a few cases and trays aside, eventually plucking out a single beer from a small six pack. She angled the bottle the cap on the edge of a nearby counter, popping it off with a swift tap of her palm.

The sound of fizzing carbonation and the bottle cap hitting the floor was the best thing she had heard all day—granted, it had technically started only a few hours

And to clarify, she hadn't personally purchased the beer, she hadn't been off-site of Providence in over a month. The beer had opportunistically come in her possession by way of a troublesome EVO chimpanzee. Ever since she and Bobo had met, their working relationship had continued to be one of barters and deals. The latest exchange was her discretion for a six pack. The deal had occurred mid-situation for Bobo, and the beer was all the monkey had to barter with at the time, despite her initial protest. He had no time to explain himself and thrust the beer into her arms, making some sour quip about his situation before making his exit. Usually their deals were more… work related.

Holiday took a long sip of beer as she made her way to the edge of room where the windows met the floor and continued upward to the ceiling. She leaned against a console, looking out to barren desert. The florescent lights that lit the outside of Providence drowned out the stars and everything beyond the parameter was an infinite black nothingness, surrounding them from all sides. She thought about everything that had led her up to this point—to her parents on the east coast, her little sister, the way things used to be before the Nanite Event… and what they were now.

In that moment she felt insignificant, like she hadn't been doing enough—and yet, here she was, holding herself prisoner and working after hours and well into the night at the most prestigious research facility in North American at the forefront of attempting to resolve the nanite and EVO crisis. She went into the medical and research field knowing that it wasn't fast-paced or instantly gratifying, but she thought that the Nanite Event and EVO crisis would have created a greater sense of urgency. She hated thinking of Beverly in that dungeon, waiting for her to come up with a solution. And now, she was struggling to help Rex, who had nanite abilities of which her understanding could only begin to scratch the surface of, and was honestly their only hope out of this mess. White Knight seemed to believe in Rex as an option was when they were desperate for a solution and when extreme measures would have continued to further damage Providence's image and jeopardized their future funding and operations.

If she could just figure out Rex's nanites, maybe they could begin making real progress and end this nightmare. She could end this. None of this had been fair to Rex or Beverly—she needed to work harder.

She took two heavy gulps of beer.

"I always took you for a wine drinker."

Holiday choked mid sip, feeling the carbonation rush up into her sinuses and fizzle.

"We talked about that!" she snapped as she coughed into the sleeve of her lab coat. She hated when he materialized from nowhere without any warning. Holiday took a moment to compose herself before readdressing him, "What are you doing here at this hour?"

Six stepped out of the shadows. His trademark sunglasses were no where to be seen. His hands were in his pockets and his suit jacket draped over his arm. The faint smell of aftershave followed him. She couldn't tell if he was at the end of his day or the beginning. Truthfully, she didn't know anything about the man aside from what she had observed. He had a rigorous and unparalleled dedication to his professional appearance and demeanor. In the year that they had worked together, Six had adapted to Rex's antics surprisingly well, but Rex seemed to only interpret this response as a challenge. Ever since he had brought Rex in that fateful day, and they had worked together to save him, she hadn't really caught any glimpses of who the man behind the sunglasses really was.

"I could ask you the same thing." He stated simply.

Six came closer and stood opposite of her at the other end of the control panel, looking outward into the empty desert landscape.

Holiday felt the heat rising in her face, and wasn't entirely convinced that it was from the single beer she was drinking on an empty stomach. She didn't know what to say to him, and suddenly became painfully of her bare feet. In the few years she had been working with him, she had never experienced had a moment with him like this. The only reason they interacted was because of Rex, and as of late, the content of their conversations could be summarized as disagreements based on different parenting styles. While Rex had spent a considerable amount of time with Six, he was at that age where he wanted nothing to do with anyone who might resemble a parental or authority figure, and had very recently began to focus all his efforts towards escaping to the world of freedom outside of the walls of Providence. His escapes were progressively becoming more bold, creative, and lengthy—Providence could barely keep up with him. They weren't exactly training for this sort of scenario at boot camp.

"I suppose the polite thing to do is offer you a drink," she said somewhat unsure, attempting to create a dialogue.

"I don't drink." Six replied coolly.

"Right, of course you don't." Holiday nodded to herself, feeling only a little embarrassed. Why was he doing this to her at this hour? "Is there something I can help you with, then?"

"No."

And so, they sat their together for a while, just starring into the black nothingness of the night while Holiday slowly sipped her beer, forcing herself to take it slow so she didn't have to get another. At least, not in front of him. She was used to long silences with Six, they were typically working silences and welcomed. Now, it was just them, and the silence was… uncomfortable. Well, she was uncomfortable. Six appeared to be fine.

"I'm assuming whatever is on your mind is work related. Even if I can't help, you can still talk to me."

A few more moments of silence went by.

"You've been over working yourself lately." he stated, still not making eye contact with her.

That didn't stop Holiday from giving him a questioning look. They were all over working themselves lately. She may not have been able to figure him out completely (if at all), but she was slowly picking up on his tendencies. That wasn't it, there was more. She placed the empty bottle on the console she was leaning against and crossed her arms, waiting for him to follow-up on his statement. Her buzz was beginning to give her courage. Six met her gaze for a moment and made his way over to the refrigerated lab cooler.

He grabbed a beer (how long had been watching her from the shadows?), popping the cap off the countertop with his hand in the same effortless manner that she had done so earlier, and placed the beer next to her, returning to his post at the console opposite of her. She accepted his offer with visible suspicion.

"I thought you didn't drink." Holiday narrowly observed.

"Haven't in years." He clarified somewhat off-handedly, clearly not interested in discussing it any further.

She took a sip and continued to wait. "I'm sure you didn't come all the way up here in the middle of the night to tell me that."

"That's… not entirely inaccurate." Six admitted. "I came here to discuss the kid with you and realized that it's been a long couple of weeks for you, too."

She smiled slightly, nodding as she looked off to the side in thought. Rex was the foundation of their working relationship; he was unapologetically familiar towards both her and Six—crafting them into something of a makeshift family for himself—and who could blame him.

"Between us, a doctor and a military agent, working at a ground-breaking, state-of-the-art facility, and it's a teenager that's throwing us for a loop."

"Well, he's certainly not an average teenager."

Holiday shook her head in slightly, "Rex's nanite abilities aside, he's completely average—and that's what makes all of this so damn difficult. He needs more than Providence, he needs to be normal, to have friends and a family… he's so much more than just… a weapon."

"I…" Six began, trailing as he considered his words, "I've been trying not to think of it like that." he admitted solemnly.

"I know."

"You do?" He sounded intrigued, but not surprised.

"Honestly, even though I've had a hard time admitting it to myself, I struggle with it, too. Rex is an ordinary teenager… and he's also the best solution we have against this terrifying worldwide epidemic."

Until now, she didn't know if what had happened with Rex a year ago was just some sort of fluke on Six's part. Despite his history as a mercenary, and his regimented dedication to a seemingly flawless degree of professionalism, he was struggling, too. Not only that, he had come to her to talk about it. Perhaps Holiday had been trying to fool herself, actively making the same mistake with Six that he had made with Rex, choosing to see him as a machine with a job to do. While Six may not have carried himself in such a way that demystified that belief, he was still human.

Six held her gaze. Until this moment, Holiday would have admitted that she typically hated how Six always wore his sunglasses. It was like a mask that somehow allowed him to conceal his inner most thoughts. And now, here he was, looking right at her, or maybe directly right through her, and she felt as though he could see all of her hopes and fears in that moment.

"You're right, he's just being a kid," Six sighed as he finally looked away, "And I'm working too much over-time." He brought his hand up and squeezed the bridge of his nose for moment.

She was finally beginning to see him. He looked tired, too.

Holiday offered him a warm half-smile, "We're all working over-time. I know this job isn't the line of work you're used to, or envisioned yourself being a part of, but none of this would have been possible without you. We are making progress, even if doesn't seem like it most days." She felt like she was reassuring herself in that moment, too.

"All that I've done is accidentally find Rex, keep him alive, and train him to be ready for anything."

"I guess that's what families do." Holiday mused, searching for some levity in all of this.

"Holiday," he replied with a skeptical sternness.

She gave him a slightly exasperated look.

"Rebecca," he started again.

She couldn't recall Six ever calling her by her first name. An unexpected warmth suddenly ignited within her chest. She wanted nothing more than to take another long sip of beer in hopes of extinguishing that feeling, but felt herself unable to move.

"Six, I didn't mean to—"

"It's not like that," Six interrupted patiently, but seemingly brimming with a sort of agitation. He took a couple of steps closer, not taking his eyes off her. "If it wasn't for you, I—"

Suddenly, the florescent lights hummed to life, illuminating the dark lab, which could only mean one thing. Panic washed over Holiday, the beer bottles were out of the sight line of the camera connected to the monitor above the console, but her boots and bare feet were not. She hastily kicked her boots under her desk and stood behind it. Six nonchalantly swept his jacket up off the nearby chair and back on, pulling his sunglasses from inside his suit pocket and adjusting his tie.

White Knight's face appeared on the monitor screen above and, luckily, he didn't hesitate to question them.

"Good, you're both here," he stated in such way that made his suspicion obvious—which was to be taken as a friendly warning. "We received a report of an EVO outbreak in a village outside of Mexico City. Agent Six, I want you and Special Agent Rex to take a squadron and deploy immediately to the location and neutralize the threat. Dr. Holiday will remain on standby."

"Very well." Six confirmed, reverting to his professional demeanor.

The screen displaying White Knight's image flickered out just as quickly as it had come on, and just like that, they were back to work.

Holiday's mind was swimming with thoughts. Whatever Six was going to say, she could endlessly speculate. What she did know was how it made her feel. The way he called her by her first name, how he looked at her… how broad his shoulders were. No. She was just over-worked, tired, and… slightly buzzed. Even if she did feel that way, Six would never return her feelings. They were dedicated to their work and didn't have time. It was just a moment of vulnerability brought on by work related fatigue and isolation.

Six was already crossing the floor of the lab with two fingers pressed against his ear piece as he quietly relayed orders. He hesitated at the twin doors, partially turning to her, "Get some rest, our destination is a few hours out." He reassured her, just before exiting.

Holiday fell back into her chair, doubting that she would be able to get any rest or work done at this point.


End file.
